Rhode Island College Digital Commons @ RIC Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview Research and Major Papers 2014 Engaging Students in Art Beyond the K-12 School Environment Melanie Ducharme Rhode Island College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.edu/etd Part of the Art Education Commons, and the Other Education Commons Recommended Citation Ducharme, Melanie, "Engaging Students in Art Beyond the K-12 School Environment" (2014). Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview.edu/etd/97 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers at Digital Commons @ RIC. It has been accepted for inclusion in Master's Theses, Dissertations, Graduate Research and Major Papers Overview by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ RIC. For more information, please contact digitalcommons@ric.
i ENGAGING STUDENTS IN ART BEYOND THE K-12 SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT: A MURAL DESIGN UNIT FOR A COMMUNITY ORGANIZATION By: Melanie L. Ducharme A Field Project Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Masters of Arts in the Department of Art Education The School of Arts and Sciences Rhode Island College 2014 ii Abstract This purpose of this thesis is to investigate a unit of instruction for a mural project with a community organization. The question I sought to answer through this research was: How can I design a unit of instruction in collaboration with a local organization that will potentially engage students in a community-based work of art while also promoting a sense of community among the students? Though this thesis research, I learned to collaborate with an organization to create a hypothetical unit of instruction. Also, I wanted to discover how I can create a learning experience that is engaging and personally meaningful to students.
The unit of study that I created is inquiry-based towards sparking the interest of students through open-ended questioning. I designed lessons that involved cooperative group work where students would work towards a common goal. This thesis will show that cooperative group work has the potential to develop a sense of community among students while meeting the needs of a community organization. iii Table of Contents Abstract.
ii Table of Contents. iii List of Images. iv Chapter 1: Introduction. 1 Chapter 2: Literature Review.
9 Chapter 3: Research Methodology. 33 Chapter 4: Research Process. xv Appendix III. xxix Appendix IV.
i iv List of Images Page Description 4 Figure 1&2 CODAC Mural 12 Figure 3 Mystic River Mural 17 Figure 4 Great Wall of Los Angeles 62 Figure 5&6 Example of an accordion book vi Figure 7 New Year New Me Breakfast, Holly Exley vi Figure 8 TV Magazine - Food Illustration, Holly Exley vii Figure 9 Packaging design, Alice Pattullo vii Figure 10&11 Packaging design, 2014, Alice Pattullo xix Figure 11 The Monster Health Book, Edward Miller xx Figure 12 Kidnetic.com xx Figure 13 Kidshealth.org xxii Figure 14 Fruit and Jug on a Table, Paul Cezanne xxii Figure 15 Apple, Robert Joyner xxii Figure 16 Baseball, Robert Joyner xxiii Figure 17 Visions and Motions, Elliott Pinkey xxxiii Figure 18 Great wall of LA, Judith Baca v xxxiv Figure 19 Street Speaks, Judith Baca xxxiv Figure 20 Breaking Bread, Here, Daryl E. Wells xxxv Figure 21 America Today, Thomas Hart Benton 1 Chapter 1: Introduction 2 The intended goal for my thesis was to design a unit of instruction for children of elementary school age to create a community art project. One of my goals through these lessons was for students to know more about each other and an issue that affects their community. The students are 3rd and 4th graders who attend the after school program at the Kent County YMCA.
I hoped they will see that they can have a positive impact on the place where they live through artistic endeavors. According to Al Hurwitz and Michael Day, a good teacher begins where a child's natural interests and abilities end (Day, 2001, p. I believe students will be more interested in art lessons that align to their own interests or spark their curiosity. The authors go on to state that art is most powerful when it relates to experience every human being shares.
This suggests that when students can make a connection to a relatable subject, the artwork will be more meaningful. A student’s motivation to learn is external and internal. A student’s life experiences, according to Hurwtiz and Day, can motivate a student to produce and respond to art. If they are motivated and interested, it will show in the quality of the work (Day, 2001, pp.
Students, in my opinion, would be well-served to learn about and respond to an issue that affects their community. It is my hope that if students created a community art project, they could see that they can have a positive impact. Community-based art (CBA) has many definitions depending on the study. It has been used to describe activities such as festivals, street parades, art workshops and mural projects.
CBA has also been called community-based, participatory, collaborative, and socially-engaged art (Nuala Hunt, 2012, p. For my thesis, I will define community- 3 based art as work that takes place in a public space. It may or may not be created in a school setting. The work can be created by students and members of the community, such as teachers and parents.
It can be created by students and community members with any capability, by any age. CBA is accessible to create, view, and understand. It has the capacity to engage students and create change (Krensky, 2009, p. I am interested in art being outside the sphere of the museum or a gallery space.
I find it an interesting concept to bring art to an audience that might not otherwise see or participate in it. I think a community-based art project makes art accessible. I have had some experience with community based art. In the Fall of 2011, I helped paint a mural with the Bannister Gallery for CODAC Behavioral Healthcare with artist, Munir Mohammad.
Along with the artist, there were two other Rhode Island College students and a student from The University of Massachusetts, Boston working on the project. The mural site is located on Huntington Avenue in Providence, Rhode Island. The facility offers treatment and prevention services to those struggling with substance abuse, gambling disorders, behavioral healthcare issues, and other addictive or abusive behaviors (CODAC, 2010). The building is a three-story structure in a drab beige color with chipping paint and the parking lot is surrounded by a rusty, chain link fence.
It is located on a one-way street between two junkyards. Beyond that is an intersection, complete with graffiti under the overpass. Cars, busses and trucks frequently pass by CODAC, along with people. Route 10 is just beyond Huntington Avenue and while standing outside one can hear traffic rushing by on the highway.
It hardly seemed like an 4 uplifting place for people seeking treatment and a better future for themselves. In creating the mural, we wanted to show how this facility brings people hope and helps people build a better future for them. Furthermore, we hoped to beautify the area by having something that the community could claim as its own. Figure 1 Figure 2 During the creation of the mural, the patients and staff at CODAC were excited and proud to see it coming to life.
The final mural is on one side of the building and extends three stories. It is an image of a garden. There are portraits of some of the staff and patients planting trees or enjoying the view. The final piece brings a sense of hope to the patient’s future.
5 In addition, my graduate program at Rhode Island College has prepared me for this thesis. In the course, Introduction to Art Education, I first learned about asking students essential questions. Through this method of teaching, students become engaged in learning rather than passively absorbing the information given to them. Essential questions are a way to make a lesson into a problem that needs to be solved.
According to Jeffery D. Wilhelm, it should connect students’ lived experiences and interests (their only resources for learning something new) to disciplinary problems in the world. And it should connect what they learn back to the real world, where they can put their new understandings to work. Through my elementary and secondary practicums, and student teaching, I was able to create and implement engaging lessons.
Through these experiences, I have found that lessons that are engaging and ask students to problem solve are the best lessons. Also, it has been my experience that the best lessons are ones that connect to students’ interests or spark their curiosity. My vision for my thesis was to create a unit of instruction in which students create a work of art that is meaningful to them and the community in which they live. Alina Campana explains that in community art the role of art, artist and educator are integrated.
All three can build community, affirm culture and have the possibility to create change (Campana, 2011, p. I wanted to approach a school or an organization that works with school aged children. I interviewed them on what their desires and needs would be if they could have a community based art project. From this interview, I was able to create a unit of instruction for a community based project that was specific to their 6 organization.
Ulbricht, community-based art is a way for students to get involved in a real world situation (Ulbricht, 2005). I envisioned this community art project to be a collaborative art piece with students. In researching literature regarding community art, I discovered that one should build a rapport with participants through various activities. Beth Krenksy and Seana Lowe Steffen give an example of an activity called the name game.
In the name game, every participant explains what quality they bring to the group. Next, they explain what community means to them. Krensky and Steffen refer to activities such as this as building community (Krensky, 2009, pp. The emphasis is not only on the creative endeavor, but also on building relationships.
By doing community building activities with students, would get to know me and each other. The goal was to have students work together as a team to create the piece. Krensky and Steffen recommend establishing ground rules: listen, everyone participates, respect each other and be prepared (Krensky, 2009, pp. One of the ways in which students can learn about their community is through collaborative group work.
One type of group work is called jigsaw. In jigsaw, students of different skill levels are assigned to a work group and an expert group. All members of the expert group study or read about a topic which they become the expert in. Each expert group would have a different topic to learn.
After learning about their topic, students then meet with their assigned work group to teach their classmates what they learned. Work group members can ask the expert questions after they have presented their information 7 (Bursuck, 2012, pp. Hurtitz and Day claim that when students work in groups, it helps students to support the learning of their classmates. Group work has potential for students to help, share, and encourage their classmates.
When students work in groups they have positive interdependence. Students have to work together to achieve their goal. Group work also requires face-to-face interactions. This can be helpful to students who need to work on social skills.
A student who is shy might feel more comfortable when there are only a few students to talk to instead of the entire class. When students work in groups they have individual accountability. Students have to make a contribution in their group to get their work done.